The plot, set in 1925, revolves around a martial arts tournament in the mysterious "Lost City", located deep in Tibet, with martial artists from around the world fighting to earn the winner's prize, the "Golden Dragon", a valuable statue made of solid gold. Claims by Frank Dux that the film was a rework of a script he had written in 1991, entitled "Enter the New Dragon: The Kumite," were rejected by a jury.[1][2]

The film received negative reviews from most professional film critics, but it was a modest box office success.

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Late night in an empty bar in the present day, an old man enters and awaits service, and not long after, a group of thugs arrive and attempt to rob the till. The old man defeats them easily one by one with hand-to-hand combat. Amazed, the bartender asks how he learned to fight. The old man replies "it was long ago..."

Christopher Dubois (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a pickpocket in his mid-twenties, living in 1925 New York City. Orphaned as a child, Dubois looks after a large group of young orphans by performing cons and stealing. After stealing a large sum of money from a group of gangsters, Dubois and the children are found by the gangsters. Dubois is able to subdue the gangsters, but the struggle draws the attention of the police. After promising to return to the children, Dubois escapes the police by stowing away on a boat. He is found out by the crew and imprisoned by gun smugglers and pirates and forced into physical labor. Eventually, the crew decides Dubois is no longer needed, but before he can be killed, the pirate ship is attacked and boarded by a mercenary Englishman, Lord Edgar Dobbs (Roger Moore). After saving each other's lives, Dobbs agrees to help Dubois return home, but deceives him and sells Dubois into slavery on an island off the coast of Siam, where Dubois is trained in Muay Thai fighting.

After six months, Dobbs and his partner Harri Smythe (Jack McGee) find Dubois fighting in a Muay Thai match and see that he has become a skilled fighter. Dobbs later assists (and exploits) Dubois, buying his freedom so the now-expert fighter can represent the U.S in a Kumite like tournament called the Ghang-gheng, held in the Lost City of Tibet, where representatives of Germany, Soviet Union, Scotland, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Korea, Siam, Greece, France, China, Japan, Okinawa, Africa, and Mongolia fight in elimination bouts, and the winner of the tournament receives a valuable statue made of solid gold, the Golden Dragon. Along for the journey are American reporter Carrie Newton (Janet Gunn) and heavyweight boxing champion Maxie Devine (James Remar).

Dubois ultimately wins the tournament by defeating the representative of Mongolia and he is given a medal and proclaimed the greatest fighter, but does not accept the Golden Dragon. Instead he trades it for the lives of Dobbs and his comrade Harri, who were sentenced to death for previously trying to steal the Golden Dragon.

Back in the bar, Dubois explains he returned to New York and helped the children get off the streets. Ultimately, things turned out for the best. Devine helped to train many great fighters, while Dobbs and Harri opened a trading post deep in the Amazon. In the final scene, a book closes, revealing its title, 'The Quest', and that it was written by Carrie Newton.

Overall, the film was a modest commercial success; made on a budget of $30 million, it earned $21.6 million at the American box office and $35.8 million internationally, for a grand total of $57.4 million.[4][5]

The reaction of many professional film critics was negative, citing the movie's thin script, Jean-Claude Van Damme's direction, and too much resemblance to Van Damme's previous hit Bloodsport. However, some critics praised the film's production values, beautiful locations, and Roger Moore's performance, while fans of martial arts films praised The Quest for showcasing various fighting styles from around the world.[6][7][8][9][10]The Quest currently holds a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.